Artwork Page for Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

Details / Information for Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

1866–73

William Pryor Floyd

(British, 1834–c. 1900)
Culture
England, 19th century
Medium
albumen print
Measurements
Image: 19.2 x 26.9 cm (7 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 19.2 x 26.9 cm (7 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Mounted: 25.5 x 26.9 cm (10 1/16 x 10 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Sundry Art - Photography Fund 2020.233
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Praya, a term used in colonial Hong Kong for the road by the waterfront, came from the Portuguese word praia, which means "beach."

Description

Floyd’s views of Hong Kong possess a clarity of organization and elegance lacking in most of his competitors’ photographs. The row of white, Western-style commercial buildings divides the composition horizontally into thirds. In the foreground are water and a single Chinese boat that leads the eye to the closest building. The crisp cubic forms of the buildings stand out against the uniformly dark hillside that serves as their backdrop.
A horizontally oriented sepia-toned albumen print depicts a waterfront with grand, multistory buildings. In the lower half, wooden boats float on calm water; a rounded, thatched roof boat occupies the bottom center. Light-colored buildings with arched ground floors stretch across the middle ground. Behind them, a steep, rocky mountain range rises to fill the upper half. To the left, a church spire peeks through trees, anchoring the monochromatic urban landscape.

Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

1866–73

William Pryor Floyd

(British, 1834–c. 1900)
England, 19th century

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